Saturday, February 25, 2012

1st Philippine Popular Music Festival (PhilPop) Now Open

Reality-based competitions are all-over these days, from ordinary people who wants to make it to showbizness and even children wanting to be chefs. It's high-time for songwriters to be on the limelight, don't you think? It's time for the 1st Philippine Popular Music Festival (PhilPop)!

Prominent names from various industries have come together to spearhead the creation of the Philippine Popular Music Festival.

The Philippine Popular Music Festival (PhilPop) is a songwriting competition open to all amateur and professional Filipino composers who would like to express themselves through their own brand of music. By March 1, 2012, interested composers can start submitting their entries online at PhilPOP.com.ph. The deadline of submission is on May 10, 2012.

Requirements

There will be three levels of screenings and during the semi-finals, the judges will choose the top 14 finalists. The final performance and competition night will be held on July 14, 2012 at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC). The grand prize winner will receive P1 million in cash and a trophy. The second and third runners up will each receive a trophy and P500,000 and P250,000 in cash respectively. All non-winning finalists will receive P50,000. A People’s Choice award will also be given to the entry with the most number of online and text votes. The winner will receive P200,000 and a trophy.

Song entries must be in MP3 format and can be in any popular music genre or a fusion of known genres, in any form or structure.

Each entry must not exceed four minutes.

Contestants can submit a maximum of two songs, either as a sole composer or as a collaborator.

Song lyrics may be in Filipino, English, any Filipino dialect or a combination thereof.

Objective

The competition hopes to provide a channel through which Filipino songwriters can create new songs and discover new expressions or genres in popular music. The organizers of PhilPOP also hope to start spark renewed enthusiasm and pride in Filipino music by starting a brand new collection of freshly produced Original Pilipino Music (OPM).

“Filipinos, in general, are musically gifted,” music maestro and PhilPOP executive director Ryan Cayabyab said. “We are well-known the world over simply because of our immense talent. But we are not just a country of talented singers, dancers and actors. With PhilPOP, I also want to shine the spotlight on our world-class composers and songwriters,” he added. The renowned musician also noted that this songwriting event is not a “revival” of another popular songwriting competition in the past decade.

Meanwhile, business icon and PhilPOP chairman, Manny Pangilinan, also shared his motivation for lending support to the competition. “There are two reasons why I'm back in the Philippines after living in Hong Kong for so many years. I miss our religion and our music. You hear God’s voice in music,” he said.

“The Philippine Popular Music Festival should offer what we all have been missing – a worthy venue to showcase the best and the brightest in OPM,” - Ely Buendia, songwriter/ musician

Maynilad president and chief executive Ricky Vargas, who is also the event’s organizing committee chairman, further noted the significance of PhilPOP. “It’s high time we celebrate the artistry of the Filipino songwriter. What better way to do that than by giving them an avenue to showcase home grown talent and shine on a stage of their own.”

Through this, the country’s finest songwriters will finally be given the opportunity to equally shine and be recognized alongside the singers who make their songs famous. This aims to continue the tradition of proudly promoting our local composers thereby generating a fresh compilation of Original Pilipino Music (OPM).

1st Philippine Popular Music Festival (PhilPop)

Reach out to the Philippine Popular Music Festival through these networks: